SENTENCING DELAYED

Sentencing delayed in US terror-funding case By PAUL DAVENPORT, Associated Press Writer – Fri Dec 11, 11:50 pm ET

PHOENIX – An Arizona man facing prison time for lying to authorities in a terrorism-funding investigation could have been a big help to authorities because of his past involvement with a Muslim charity that aided Hamas, an FBI agent testified Friday.

Other testimony, from relatives and other supporters, portrayed Akram Musa Abdallah as a community pillar and family leader who worked to help people and build bridges between faiths.Abdallah, a 55-year-old Mesa resident, was to have been sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court on his guilty plea to one count of making a false statement during 2007 interviews with FBI agents concerning his mid-1990s fundraising for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.But the sentencing was postponed until Feb. 18 because Judge Neil Wake ran out of time Friday after hearing hours of testimony and because he wants lawyers to submit briefs on several sentencing issues.More than 30 people submitted letters in support of Abdallah, and more than 60 supporters packed the courtroom Friday.Five Holy Land leaders were convicted in a Dallas federal court last year of bankrolling schools and social welfare programs that prosecutors said were controlled by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since overrunning the rival Fatah government in 2007. Hamas has taken responsibility for hundreds of suicide bombings targeting Israeli citizens.

The United States had designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1995. Holy Land received the designation in December 2001.The FBI agent, Robert Miranda, said Abdallah wasn't a Holy Land insider but his volunteer work in the Phoenix area on behalf of the group would have made him a fantastic witness because he could have testified about its practices and beliefs.He was the best of both worlds, Miranda said.From the perspective of an investigator, he sure had a lot of connections and knowledge that nobody else seemed to have.Abdallah's fundraising role was known through FBI wiretaps but he falsely denied any substantial involvement with Holy Land when interviewed by agents during the Dallas-based investigation, Miranda said.

Abdallah's character witnesses belittled the government's case and said he is an upstanding person.This is a man who should not be here, Dr. Maher Abdallah, a California physician who is a cousin of the defendant, told Wake. He's been nothing but a role model.The cousin acknowledged Abdallah might have spoken falsely to the FBI, but said it was during voluntary interviews while being hounded by multiple agents. He thought he was helping.Two of the five men convicted in Dallas last year were sentenced in May to prison terms of 65 years each, and the other three received shorter terms.Abdallah's faces up to eight years in prison under a maximum term stiffened by a terrorism enhancement. However, a plea agreement with prosecutors calls for him to receive a sentence of 18 to 24 months.

A probation officer's pre-sentencing report recommended 46 months.

Wake questioned whether the terrorism enhancement should apply to Abdallah's case because his crime only involves lying to authorities. He also questioned whether the crime should be considered serious for sentence purposes when it appears that the government was not misled by Abdallah's lies.

Lawyers are to submit briefs on those issues.

Court papers said Abdallah, a native of Jordan, moved to the United States in 1976, living initially in the New York City area. He became a U.S. citizen in 1982, moved to Phoenix in 1992 and established a home-based telephone calling card business in 2004.

EU consults Quartet over Israeli settler credit plan
Fri Dec 11, 1:50 pm ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union expressed concern Friday about the Israeli premier's plans to grant credits to some West Bank settlers, and is consulting its partners in the Middle East Quartet about the move.Coordination with the Quartet I think is called for in view of the serious nature of such a move, said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.I've asked (EU special representative Marc Otte) to get in touch with other Quartet participants to have a discussion on that, he told reporters after talks in Brussels with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad.The diplomatic Quartet comprises the EU, Russia, the United States and the United Nations.We'll have to look at it, we will consult with the Quartet, and if that is the decision that will be taken by the Israeli government, we will most certainly express our views on it, Bildt said.

If I understand it rightly, it is a rather serious step.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan, to be submitted to cabinet on Sunday, would include new settlements in a list of communities designated as national priority zones that are entitled to additional state funding.The new credits, worth 28 million euros (41 million dollars), would benefit 110,000 settlers, according to Netanyahu's office. They can be used for vocational training programmes and other educational or cultural activities.The settlement issue is one of the thorniest in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian standoff.Peace efforts, which resumed in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, came to a standstill again when Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza late last year.The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

Hamas celebrates its 22nd birthday in Gaza
Fri Dec 11, 12:48 pm ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) – The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip on Friday began celebrations marking the Islamist movement's 22nd anniversary with parades and the unveiling of a huge mural depicting rockets targeting Israel.Hundreds of people riding camels, horses and motorcycles took part in processions from the north and the east of the besieged Palestinian territory to converge on the house of Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya.In the centre of the coastal strip, thousands of people took part in a pro-Hamas march that also featured mock rockets.In the Jabaliya refugee camp a huge mural was unveiled, featuring Palestinians fighting the Israeli occupation with stones, rifles and rockets.The main celebration will be held on Monday, the actual anniversary of the anniversary of the movement's founding.Speculation was rife that Hamas might make an announcement about the fate of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured in June 2006 when fighters from Hamas and two other armed groups tunnelled out of Gaza to attack an army post, killing two soldiers.

Contradictory reports have emerged in recent weeks about the possible imminent release of Shalit in a swap for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.Israel and Hamas have held indirect talks sponsored by Egypt and mediated by Germany to finalise a swap.Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, routing its secular rival Fatah after a week of deadly street battles.

Jewish settlers to increase by 10,000 within year
Fri Dec 11, 7:36 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli minister has predicted there will be 10,000 new settlers in the occupied West Bank over the next 10 months and insisted that a moratorium did not freeze but only limited construction.Over the next 10 months the population of 300,000 will grow by at least 10,000 residents, said Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, in comments broadcast on public radio on Friday.Properly speaking, this is not a freeze. We are not planning to freeze life but only to impose certain limits on construction in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Begin said on Thursday night in Tel Aviv.Begin is a member of the ministerial commission responsible for the implementation of the 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settler homes announced two weeks ago amid US-led pressure to freeze settlement construction.The moratorium excludes settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and several thousand homes where construction has already started.Its announcement drew criticism both from the Palestinians who say it falls far short of the total freeze they have been seeking and from settlers who oppose any restrictions.Further controversy was certain to arise after the prime minister's office announced on Thursday that Netanyahu is pushing for some settlements to be declared national priority areas, which would entitle them to financial assistance.The settlement issue has been one of the thorniest in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, which they want to be the capital of their promised state.Middle East negotiations, which resumed in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, came to a standstill again when Israel launched a devastating offensive against Gaza late last year.

Egypt going underground to stem Gaza smuggling By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 10, 5:22 pm ET

CAIRO – Egypt is installing a series of metal sheets some 60 feet deep along its border with Gaza in an attempt to block tunnels that serve as a key conduit to get weapons into the Palestinian territory, border guards and area residents said Thursday.The work poses a risk to Egypt's relations with Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and could undermine its role as a regional mediator. Egypt is already under fire from Arab and Muslim groups for cooperating with Israel in its two-year blockade of the impoverished territory, with 1.4 million residents.The border project appears to be one of a series of measures Egypt has taken, some of them in cooperation with the U.S., to crack down on smuggling since the end of Israel's war on Hamas last winter. The tunnels were a main target of Israel's offensive.We in Hamas can't believe that Egypt would put barriers between us, Hamas lawmaker Yehiye Moussa told The Associated Press.We know that Egypt is under American and international pressure, but we hope that this is not true. We demand that Egypt open its border.But the tunnels also create an issue for Egypt, allowing terrorists to slip into the country from Gaza and attempt attacks.

Residents along the border said in recent weeks they have seen Egyptian construction crews clearing a corridor along the frontier, then drilling deep holes. They said the workers then filled the trenches with sand. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.A resident of Rafah, a city divided by the Egypt-Gaza border, said Egyptian crews near his home were clearing a dirt corridor about 90 yards from the border over the past 20 days. The man who identified himself only by his first name, Ashraf, for fear of harassment, said they were drilling holes about 20 yards deep and filling them with sand.A Gaza security official said he has seen drilling machines operating on the other side of the border, equipped with an attachment to hoist metal. He said the workers are installing metal into the trenches at night.The official and a Hamas border guard said the Egyptians have been digging for the past 17 days in the area where the borders of Egypt, Israel and Gaza meet. They said they dig during the day and put metal into the ground at night. Both men requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the subject.

Government officials did not return calls seeking comment.

On Thursday, heavy drilling machinery could be seen operating on the Egyptian side of the border. Nonetheless, on the Gaza side tunnels were active with Palestinian smugglers lowering themselves into the deep shafts.Egypt has been wary of cooperating to shut the tunnels, which are also used for smuggling everything from food to medicine and construction material. Without tunnel smuggling, Gaza's already shaky economy — facing a crippling blockade since Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007 — would likely collapse.Egypt's gamble is substantial. It could undermine its central role in mediating Mideast conflicts, including the bitter rivalry between Hamas and Fatah for control of the Palestinian territories. Egypt also has been trying to arrange a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel that could ultimately lead to an easing of the Gaza blockade.Egyptian and Israeli officials said the project along the border was in cooperation with the U.S. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue.

A U.S. Embassy official in Cairo denied there was American involvement in any barrier project on the border.At the conclusion of Israel's offensive last January to halt rocket fire from Gaza, the U.S. agreed to provide Israel, Egypt and other countries in the region with military and intelligence assistance, including detection and surveillance equipment. It also agreed to provide logistical help and training.In February, U.S. Army engineers set up ground-penetrating radar in the region to detect smuggling tunnels.Israel has long criticized Egypt for not doing enough to halt the smuggling. Recently, Egypt increased funds specifically for improving security in the Sinai Peninsula, where the border is located. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday quoted Egyptian sources as saying the construction has begun on a massive iron underground barrier, which cannot be cut or burned through. It will be about six miles long, and 60 to 90 feet deep, the report said.
Associated Press Writer Dalia Nammari contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.

No Moscow Mideast talks for now: Palestinian minister
Thu Dec 10, 12:01 pm ET

MOSCOW (AFP) – Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki on Thursday rejected holding Middle East peace talks in Moscow in the absence of preliminary negotiations with Israel.Organising such a conference in Moscow, without preliminary negotiations with Israel, would be pointless, said the minister at the end of a visit to the Russian capital.If the conference took place now, it would not bring a decisive contribution to the peace process, he added.

Russia has been pressing for more than a year to organise a Middle East peace summit.

With regard to a recent French proposal to hold peace talks in Paris, Malki said that the aims of the French initiative were not contrary to an international conference being held in Moscow.The proposed Paris meeting would gather the main Middle East players -- Palestinian representatives, and those from Israel, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon.It would also include the diplomatic Quartet, which comprises the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia).

On a forthcoming visit to Moscow in January Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas should again tackle the question of holding an international conference in Moscow, which has already been postponed several times, added the foreign minister.

EU says Israel aimed to divide bloc over Jerusalem By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 10, 11:34 am ET

BRUSSELS – The European Union accused Israel on Thursday of trying to divide the 27-nation bloc to stop it passing a resolution calling for Jerusalem to be the shared capital of Israel and a future Palestinian state.The new resolution adopted by the EU on Tuesday sparked an angry reaction from Israel, which captured the eastern half of city on 1967 and considers it its eternal undivided capital. Palestinians want east Jerusalem as part of a future independent state.An EU official said Israel had lobbied intensively for the European foreign ministers to dilute an earlier draft proposed by Sweden — who currently holds the EU's rotating presidency — which explicitly stated that east Jerusalem should be the capital of a Palestinian state.

Israeli leaders telephoned politicians in several European nations to press for removal of the passage, said the official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. In the end, the ministers modified the original draft, but still referred to the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states, the official said.Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Thursday that Israel should desist from trying to divide the bloc. He insisted that the Tuesday's decision demonstrated that the EU was a cohesive and clear force on global issues, including the Middle East.Bildt comments followed those made by Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who said Wednesday that Sweden wanted to present the EU declaration as its achievement before that country's six-month term as the EU president ended.Sweden, which is completing its term as holder of the EU rotating presidency without any achievements or any significant returns, tried toward the end of its term to steal the show and steal the vote. That didn't succeed, Lieberman told Israel Radio.Bildt shot back Thursday, saying that Israel should not think that a relationship with Europe is divide and rule.You consider some (EU members) good and some bad and then you try to maneuver from that position, Bildt said.Bildt told lawmakers that EU officials would meet on Friday with representatives of the Palestinian Authority, but that Israel has been unwilling to schedule a similar meeting.Although the EU has long opposed the annexation of east Jerusalem, Tuesday's statement was sure to deepen Israel's sense that the Europeans favor Palestinian positions.

Sweden and Israel have had a long history of diplomatic spats.In September, Bildt abruptly called off a visit to Israel during a feud over an unsubstantiated article in a Swedish tabloid that accused Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs from dead Palestinians.The cancellation came amid a growing gulf between Israel and the international community over West Bank settlement construction.AP correspondent Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Syria warns Israel it risks closing door to talks by Roueida Mabardi – Thu Dec 10, 8:59 am ET

DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syria warned Israel on Thursday it risked closing the door to renewed peace talks, a day after the Israeli parliament agreed to consider a bill that would make it far more difficult to return the occupied Golan.The current Israeli government of (Benjamin) Netanyahu is perfectly aware that Syria will not resume indirect talks brokered by Turkey unless this prime minister commits himself to a full withdrawal from the Golan, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Syria's recovery of its occupied territory is non-negotiable as it is a right recognised by UN resolutions.Israel seized the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981, in a move never recognised by the international community.Israeli MPs passed a bill backed by Netanyahu's right-leaning government at first reading on Wednesday which would require any withdrawal from annexed territory to be approved by an absolute majority in the 120-seat parliament and then be put to a referendum within 80 days.The bill still needs to be approved at two further readings before it can become law but it received the backing of 68 MPs on its first outing.But Syria hit out at Netanyahu for giving his government's support to the bill's passage through parliament, saying he was going back on the policy of previous Israeli governments over nearly two decades.Since the launch of peace negotiations at the Madrid conference (in 1991), every Israeli prime minister has committed to a full withdrawal from the Golan to the June 4, 1967 line, according to the ministry statement.Through this action, Israel is once again defying the desire of the international community to achieve a comprehensive peace in the region in accordance with international resolutions and the principle of the exchange of land for peace.Israel is defying the whole world with its rejection of peace and it is proving that its goverment's stated wish to make peace is nothing but a political manoeuvre.The previous Israeli government of Ehud Olmert held a series of Turkish-brokered peace feelers with Syria last year but they were broken off following Israel's devastating offensive against Gaza at the turn of the year.Turkey's relations with Israel have become increasingly strained since the Gaza war and last month Trade and Industry Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer made a fence-mending visit to Istanbul.But that trip was overshadowed by comments by ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman ruling out Turkey as a broker in any renewed contacts with Syria.On Monday, Netanyahu himself said he would prefer French mediation.

Palestinians fake cancer to flee blockaded Gaza By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 10, 3:36 am ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – A healthy man in blockaded Gaza faked cancer, hoping the deadly disease would be his ticket out of the territory that has become an open-air prison for its 1.4 million residents.His ploy failed, but several thousand others succeeded in fleeing this shabby sliver of land this year using bribes and fake medical reports, a sign of Gazans' desperation over growing poverty and misery under the strict border closure enforced by Egypt and Israel since Hamas militants overran Gaza in June 2007.The blockade has few loopholes. Israel allows passage to top business people and a limited number of Gazans seeking treatment for serious illnesses. Egypt sporadically opens its border for university students and those with residency abroad.Everyone else is stuck, even as Palestinian polls suggest nearly half the population would like to leave if they could. Deepening the Gazans' sense of imprisonment, they must now also obtain permission from the Hamas government before attempting to leave, further complicating an obstacle-ridden path to freedom.Those trying to bribe their way out usually approach middlemen who put them in touch with local doctors, Palestinian health officials or Egyptian bureaucrats and military officials.

Akram Ghneim, 31, an unemployed father of six living off food handouts, told The Associated Press he promised $260 to a Palestinian middleman, who obtained for him a bogus medical report saying he had cancer. Ghneim said he hoped he'd get a rare spot on the list of Gaza patients with life-threatening illnesses who are allowed to enter Israel for treatment.Once in Israel, he planned to disappear and work illegally. But Israeli intelligence officials, who review applications, rejected him last summer, saying his cancer report was forged.This is what the blockade does, said Ran Yaron, of the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights, which helps bring Gazans into Israel for treatment by lobbing Israeli defense officials.

Most are frustrated and devastated people.Yaron said fakers are a minority, but clog up the system for real patients who have to go through longer checks as a result.Of more than 7,000 Gazans who crossed into Israel this year to seek medical treatment, some 500 haven't returned, said Col. Moshe Levi, an Israeli defense official.Some stay in Israel, while others move to the West Bank, a territory controlled by Israel but partly administered by Palestinians loyal to Fatah, bitter rivals of Hamas.One Fatah loyalist, a healthy 30-year-old woman, said she was desperate to leave Gaza after being harassed by Hamas officials.She bribed a Gaza doctor with $100 to certify she had whatever cancer could only be treated in Israel. The doctor then paid off a physician serving on a Palestinian committee that certifies medical reports for Israeli military officials, the woman said. She eventually succeed in reaching the West Bank and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being sent back to Gaza by the Israeli authorities.Israeli intelligence officials investigate Gazans applying to enter Israel to ensure they are not militants and to check whether medical certificates are genuine, but tend to rely on the Palestinian committee to confirm that the patient is actually sick.

The head of the Palestinian committee, Bassam Badri, denied members accept bribes. Omar Masri of the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said the issue was too stupid for a response.But Palestinians who have successfully used bogus transfers said some health officials accept payments, anything from $100 to $500. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the illicit system.Others pay bribes to get out through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, said a senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to alienate Egyptian authorities. Payments range from $400 to $5,000, according to Rafah residents familiar with the system, known among Gazans as Egyptian coordination.

An Egyptian security official at the border denied Egyptian officers take bribes to allow crossings. He said that three months ago, two Palestinian officials posted on the Egyptian side were removed on suspicion of taking bribes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. Depending on the sum, the middleman's talents and luck, bribe-paying Gazans can sometimes leave immediately through the crossing, with Egyptian officials stamping them through, even when it's closed, Rafah residents said. Otherwise, bribe-payers wait for one of the official border openings by Egypt, usually lasting for around three days every month or two. About 2,000 Gazans get through each time the border opens. Only half are on the official list and the rest are handled directly by the Egyptian authorities, said Ehab Ghussein, the Interior Ministry spokesman in Gaza.

Thousands more have applied to leave but don't make the list, he said.

Numerous tunnels run under the Gaza-Egypt borders in a thriving smuggling trade bringing goods into the territory. But few Gazans use them to sneak into Egypt, because once on the other side they would have no official status and be more vulnerable to Egyptian police.

But even paying bribes isn't a guaranteed exit strategy.

Hazem Riyashi, 27, says he paid a middleman $1,000 in July to cross through Egypt, hoping to reach the Gulf emirate of Dubai, where his family lives. But the middleman disappeared and has not returned his calls. Riyashi hasn't given up, and is looking for someone else to pay off. I think everybody should leave Gaza, he said.Even the air smells cleaner abroad.Associated Press Writer Rizek Abdul Jawad in Gaza City contributed to this report.

European lawmakers denied entry into Gaza
Wed Dec 9, 11:47 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The European parliament demanded on Wednesday that Israel explain why it prevented a delegation of MEPs from travelling to the Gaza Strip despite initially authorising the visit.Israel had yesterday afternoon granted final permission for all members of our delegation to travel. However, some three hours later entry for all members of the delegation was rescinded on security grounds, without further explanation, it said in a statement.

We insist on a full explanation of the security risks claimed by Israel, it said.

It is extremely curious that the cancellation came within a few hours of the announcement of the EU Council statement re-affirming Europe's strong position in favour of an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders and an end to settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.EU nations agreed Tuesday that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state.

The eight-strong parliamentary delegation represents members from various political parties from Britain, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, France, Germany and Greece.Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP that Israel bars foreign dignitaries from the Gaza Strip.Any entry of foreign dignitaries into the Gaza Strip will be manipulated by this terror organisation (Hamas) in order to achieve respectability and continue its terror policy against Palestinians and Israelis alike.

Israeli MPs vote on land-for-peace law
Wed Dec 9, 10:17 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli parliament on Wednesday passed the first reading of a bill requiring a referendum to approve a pull-out from annexed east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as part of any peace deal.Sixty-eight voted in favour, 22 against and one abstained. Another 31 MPs were absent from the 120-seat parliament.The government-backed bill, which still needs to pass a second and third reading before becoming law, is seen as a boost to those opposing Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights under a future peace deal with Syria.The bill requires that any peace agreement reached between the Israeli government which entails an Israeli withdrawal from annexed territories must first be approved by a 61-MP majority in the 120-member parliament, or Knesset.

If approved in parliament, the agreement will have to be put to a national referendum within 80 days.The bill concerns the strategic Golan plateau and east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed, in moves not recognised by the international community.Syria has repeatedly demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan in exchange for peace and the Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.One of the bill's backers, MP Yariv Levin of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, rejected criticism that the bill sought to impede peace.It is only appropriate that fateful and significant questions such as the country's borders should be voted by the widest possible majority and not only in Knesset, he told AFP.